Spin chains and chiral lattice fermions

Abstract

The generalization of Lorentz invariance to solvable two-dimensional lattice fermion models has been formulated in terms of Baxter's corner transfer matrix. In these models, the lattice Hamiltonian and boost operator are given by fermionized nearest-neighbor Heisenberg spin chain operators. The transformation properties of the local lattice fermion operators under a boost provide a natural and precise way of generalizing the chiral structure of a continuum Dirac field to the lattice. The resulting formulation differs from both the Wilson and staggered (Kogut-Susskind) prescriptions. In particular, an axial $Q_5$ rotation is sitewise local, while the vector charge rotation mixes nearest neighbors on even and odd sublattices.